Wildair

The pommes darphin is a lacy potato cake under Maine uni, $45.7 Jeremiah Stone and Fabian von Hauske opened here in 2015.6 Adam Platt wrote that December that it might be the most satisfying new restaurant in town.3

Why go

Julien Levy gave the room four stars out of five for Time Out in August 2026. His case is about who went first. The natural wine boom needed one room in the right place with the right list, and this was it.1 It started as the casual spin-off from Contra, the tasting-menu room two doors up.4 Contra is gone now, replaced by the cocktail bar Bar Contra from the same team.8 The wine is natural, organic and biodynamic, and the list turns over fast enough that a regular drinks whatever the cellar sends up.6 1

Order this / avoid

Order: the beef tartare, $23, with umeboshi, walnut pesto and a potato crisp.7 Will Hartman calls it quite possibly the best beef tartare in the city.2
Order: the fried stuffed olives, $18, stuffed with pork sausage and culatello under a stout mornay.7 Hartman says to prioritize them if snacks are all you are having.2
Order: the sourdough and olive oil, $6, on every table.7
Avoid: the pissaladieclair, $17. Hartman found the savory eclair mild under all those anchovies and wanted a crisper shell.2

What locals & experts say

Julien Levy, Time Out New York, August 2026, at four stars: The room is tight and a little scuffed. He says the word for that is patina.1
Will Hartman, who rated it 8.6 for The Infatuation in January 2025: The restaurant might be even better now, in an effortlessly cool way.2
The James Beard Foundation, 2020: it made Jeremiah Stone and Fabián von Hauske semifinalists for Best Chef: New York State.5
What I have not confirmed: the home page claims four awards and dates none of them. I have not found any of the four at an awarding body.6

Good to know

Getting in: reservations exist, but Levy says a good part of the room is held back for whoever turns up, so the line runs down Orchard Street.1
The splurge: a 20-ounce American wagyu striploin at $165, au poivre with thrice-fried potatoes. The menu asks for 45 minutes on it.7
Dessert: the mille feuille at $20, with cereal diplomat cream and a mandarin caramel.7
Their other rooms: the Tusk Bar and Brass sit in a Nomad hotel, and Matilda is their hotel upstate.2

Verdict

should-visit — Eat something before you come, because the plates are built to keep up with the glass. If natural wine is an argument you would rather not have, this is the wrong room.

Wildair.